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Cutting down trees to restore Washington forests

As part of a broader plan by Nature Conservancy to restore the pine forests of the Central Cascades so they are more resilient to wildfires and climate change, the nonprofit environmental group is cutting down trees to save the forest.

In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, Trevor Gibson walks atop logs he’ll cut into shorter sections as part of a crew thinning a 100-acre patch on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy overlooking Cle Elum Lake, in Cle Elum, Wash. As part of a broader plan by the nonprofit environmental group to restore the pine forests of the Central Cascades so they are more resilient to wildfires and climate change, they’re cutting down trees to save the forest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, Rob Deter peers out from under his hard hat where he is part of a crew thinning a 100-acre patch on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy overlooking Cle Elum Lake, in Cle Elum, Wash. As part of a broader plan by the nonprofit environmental group to restore the pine forests of the Central Cascades so they are more resilient to wildfires and climate change, they’re cutting down trees to save the forest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, a log felled days earlier is grabbed by a log yarder after being hauled up a steep slope where a crew is thinning a 100-acre patch on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy overlooking Cle Elum Lake, in Cle Elum, Wash. As part of a broader plan by the nonprofit environmental group to restore the pine forests of the Central Cascades so they are more resilient to wildfires and climate change, they’re cutting down trees to save the forest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, a log yarder hauls a log up a steep slope where a crew is thinning a 100-acre patch on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy overlooking Cle Elum Lake, in Cle Elum, Wash. As part of a broader plan by the nonprofit environmental group to restore the pine forests of the Central Cascades so they are more resilient to wildfires and climate change, they’re cutting down trees to save the forest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, logs are stacked above Cle Elum Lake, where a crew is thinning a 100-acre patch on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy overlooking the lake, in Cle Elum, Wash. As part of a broader plan by the nonprofit environmental group to restore the pine forests of the Central Cascades so they are more resilient to wildfires and climate change, they’re cutting down trees to save the forest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, a Douglas fir, center, is left standing where a crew is thinning a 100-acre patch on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy overlooking Cle Elum Lake, in Cle Elum, Wash. As part of a broader plan by the nonprofit environmental group to restore the pine forests of the Central Cascades so they are more resilient to wildfires and climate change, they’re cutting down trees to save the forest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, Trevor Gibson eyes a pile of logs he’ll be cutting into shorter lengths at a thinning operation on a 100-acre patch on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy overlooking Cle Elum Lake, in Cle Elum, Wash. As part of a broader plan by the nonprofit environmental group to restore the pine forests of the Central Cascades so they are more resilient to wildfires and climate change, they’re cutting down trees to save the forest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

This Feb. 22, 2017, photo, shows a “fire scar” at the base of a ponderosa pine, indicating where previous fire has killed a small section of the living cells right under the bark, where a crew is thinning a 100-acre patch on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy overlooking Cle Elum Lake, in Cle Elum, Wash. As part of a broader plan by the nonprofit environmental group to restore the pine forests of the Central Cascades so they are more resilient to wildfires and climate change, they’re cutting down trees to save the forest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, Ryan Haugo, senior forest ecologist for the Nature Conservancy, describes large trees being left while smaller ones are thinned on a 100-acre patch on private land they own overlooking Cle Elum Lake, in Cle Elum, Wash. As part of a broader plan by the nonprofit environmental group to restore the pine forests of the Central Cascades so they are more resilient to wildfires and climate change, they’re cutting down trees to save the forest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, Rob Deter removes cables from trees hauled up a steep slope where a crew is thinning a 100-acre patch on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy overlooking Cle Elum Lake, in Cle Elum, Wash. As part of a broader plan by the nonprofit environmental group to restore the pine forests of the Central Cascades so they are more resilient to wildfires and climate change, they’re cutting down trees to save the forest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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